Two automated parking structures scheduled for construction.

Posted on | May 7, 2011 | No Comments

California has two automated parking structures scheduled for construction.  West Hollywood is moving forward with a 200 car automated garage for city hall.  Boomerang Systems was in the top three but the final vote came in for Unitronics’ bid at $2.6 million dollars.  They anticipate breaking ground next year and having a 2013 opening. 

Chinatown’s 60-unit Lotus Garden housing project will also include an automated garage.  According to Business Insider, the ‘car matrix’ will be on three levels and have the potential to move 64 cars up and down, left and right without the nuisance of humanity.   San Diego-based developer, Affirmed Housing, has broken ground and expects the Chinatown development to open in the fall of 2012.

UCLA Medical Center to get 250-car eValet Parking `System

Posted on | April 18, 2011 | No Comments

UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, CA is going to be using an automated parking system referred to as eValet which has been engineered and built by Criterion Manufacturing Solutions out of West Michigan.  Read more

Fully automated six-level underground parking moves forward

Posted on | April 13, 2011 | No Comments

A fully automated six-level underground parking is mired in controversy with fears that it threatens a tomb in the vicinity. Read more

2nd Automated Parking System in Copenhagen delivered

Posted on | April 5, 2011 | No Comments

Copenhagen’s Mayor Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard has just opened Europe’s largest automated parking garage Leifsgade. Read more

Canada’s first automated parking garage to be maintained by Neutron and Bosa

Posted on | March 22, 2011 | No Comments

When Bosa needed to find a local contractor to provide annual maintenance and rapid response EM service to Canada’s first automated parking garage located at the brand new Jamieson Place project in Vancouver, it didn’t take long for them to decide on Neutron. As the only contractor in BC to provide mechanical, electrical, programming and refrigeration services under one roof, their decision was simple. The system was installed by Murray Latta, a local mechanical contractor with a great reputation for getting big and complicated systems in place.

“With 300 residents relying on this system to retrieve their vehicle, downtime simply isn’t an option. Neutron’s impressive resume of emergency response, maintenance management and key relationships with local contractors and vendors made our descion an easy one” Hermann Nunsler, VP Development, Bosa Properties

Scheduled occupancy is for May 2011…we’ll keep you posted.

Adapted from Nuetron

Santa Monica Medical Building first of kind to offer automated parking

Posted on | March 21, 2011 | No Comments

Excerpt from How Parking Impacts Your Medical Practice 

In general, parking structures are less appealing to patients, doctors and support staff. They can be confusing if they are poorly designed, making it hard for your patients to find elevators and remember the level where they parked. Lighting and cleanliness also is a greater concern with structured parking since they are, by their very nature, darker and closed in.
 
If you’re in a large building, you may have the option of an automated parking system, which moves cars around on pallets like a jukebox to stack and park them in an unmanned multi-story structure.

In Santa Monica, Calif., for example, the new Regents of the University of California medical office building, located directly across the street from the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopedic Hospital, will offer an automated parking system – the first of its kind on the West Coast.

Designed by Michael W. Folonis Architects in Los Angeles and developed by Randall Miller, principal of Nautilus Group Inc., the three-story building will be able to fit twice as many cars into the subterranean garage as would be possible with conventional parking.

Automated parking systems are efficient, Weiss explains, taking an average of less than two minutes to retrieve a car, and the risk of cars being damaged in the process is virtually nonexistent since no human touches them and the cars themselves do not move – the pallets do.

Adapted from MedicalOfficeToday

St. Patrick’s Day Top 5 GREEN Reasons for Considering Robotic, Automated Parking

Posted on | March 17, 2011 | No Comments

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day I want to share my top 5 GREEN reasons for considering robotic, automated parking.

(1) Increased Air Quality
Since the automobile’s engine is off during the parking process a significant decrease in toxic emissions is realized.
I was recently asked to provide supporting emission data for an 800 space robotic garage, results below:
(125,400 miles of estimated driving per year INSIDE OF THE RAMPED GARAGE)
A reduction of related toxic emissions of:

• 910 lbs of Hydrocarbons (HC) per year
• 467 lbs of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) per year
• 1,191 pounds of Carbon Monoxide (CO) per year
• 62.7 tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) per year Read more

Condos with Automated Parking approved for FHA loans

Posted on | March 1, 2011 | No Comments

Axis San Francisco, a boutique collection of 26 luxury condominiums for sale located in Downtown San Francisco on the south-east corner of Bush and Larkin, is now approved for FHA lending.

FHA loans allow buyers to purchase a new luxury condo with as little as 3.5% down. This, coupled with interest rates at historic lows, first-time and seasoned home buyers are seeing opportunities never seen before in the San Francisco real estate market.

At Axis, each meticulously designed condominium features high-end appointments including chef’s kitchens with Italian appliances, Caesarstone countertops and cabinet faced refrigerators. Community amenities include a contemporary lobby, video intercom security system, state-of-the-art automated parking system and expansive furnished roof lounge with panoramic views of the City.

New Automated Garage in Chicago

Posted on | February 28, 2011 | No Comments

Local developer VLF Development is planning Chicago’s second “green” parking garage,  a 100-car structure called Green Park Eco Garage at 1868 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Bucktown. Ground was broken on the $7 million project in December, and VLF CEO Vicki Fuller of Lakeview said the project should be open by late fall. Read more

Paranoia-Free Parking – 3 Years and All Good

Posted on | February 25, 2011 | Comments Off on Paranoia-Free Parking – 3 Years and All Good

If you’ve ever had the dubious pleasure of being a monthly customer at a New York City parking garage, you’re probably aware that the price—approximately that of a roomy one-bedroom in any other metropolitan area—is only the start-up cost. You’ve also got to suffer the opprobrium of the attendants if you give them less than 24 hours’ notice that you want to use your car. And then there’s the persistent fear/suspicion that the dents and scratches you’re noticing for the first time weren’t there when you dropped the vehicle off.

This anxiety is usually bolstered by three factors: the way you’ve witnessed the wheelies, screeching tires, and disco moves as the staff moves vehicles around the garage; the infinitesimal spaces the cars are squeezed into; and the curious fact that the garage has a close working relationship with a body shop that will happily pick up, repair and return your car, often all in the same day. Read more